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Tailed slow loris
Other names: Tailed lemur. : Scientific names: Nycticebus caudatus (Shuker, 1993) : Country reported: The tailed slow loris was a cryptid primate reported from the Lushai Hills in Assam, India. Its defining characteristic is a long, bushy tail, which all known species of loris lack.Annandale, Nelson "An unknown Lemur from the Lushai Hills, Assam", Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1908)ShukerNature: THE TAILED SLOW LORISES OF ASSAM'S LUSHAI HILLS - AN ENDURING PRIMATOLOGICAL MYSTERY Description The tailed slow loris is very similar to a regular slow loris other than the presence of a long, bushy tail. Nelson Annandale described it thus: :"The new Lemur is white in colour, with a narrow black mid-dorsal stripe extending from the occiput to the base of the tail, a dark triangular patch round each eye, and the anterior surface of the ears dark. The tail is apparently very thick and cylindrical, shorter than the head and body, and without definite markings. The limbs are comparatively short and stout. The head is large and round, the face flat, the muzzle small, the ears short and rounded; the eyes are perhaps a little smaller than those of ''Nycticebus tardigradus, but are separated by less than their own diameter. The fur is apparently close and woolly." He also speculated that the tail of the animal may be prehensile given its position in the photograph. Its behaviour is apparently also similar to that of a regular loris, as the second animal in the photograph is sleeping in a position characteristic of them. Sightings Undated After the publication of the photograph of the animal, a Col. E. W. Loch wrote that the "tailed Lemur of the Lushai Hills" was well known to him. 1908 The only known specimens of the tailed slow loris were captured in December 1889 in the jungle near Fort Lungleh in the Lushai Hills of Assam by men of the Lushai Expedition of 1889-90. The two animals were photograped by T.D. La Touche of the Geological Survey of India, but soon escaped: :"''They were habitually so slow in their movements that no precautions were taken to prevent their escape; but when once they had got out of their cage they vanished rapidly. They were fond of hanging upside down, as the upper animal of the photograph is doing. It will be noticed that in this position the tail does not hang down but is supported against the side of the box. Possibly it is prehensile, but this is not clear. The lower animal in the photograph is evidently asleep. It sits with its head tucked in under its chest, much as ''Nycticebus does; the tail is also tucked in under the body." The presence of the tail is not perfectly clear in the photograph (as it is wrapped around the body rather than hanging down), but La Touche assured Doctor Nelson Annandale, who published an article on the animals in the ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, that it was present on both individuals. Theories Karl Shuker noted that, if they were not freak specimens of the Indian loris, the animals captured in 1889 must represent an undiscovered species, and suggested the name Nycticebus caudatus. He also suggested the animal may have gone extinct since the early 20th Century. Notes and references Category:Cryptids Category:Asia Category:India Category:Lemurs, bushbabies, pottos, and lorises Category:Theory: New species Category:Historical - Modern Category:No recent sightings